The following Abstract from Harvard Review of Psychiatry, evaluates the importance of using Meditation to help co-occurring disorders. This 2009 study is on the earliest studies that suggest the many benefits of using Meditation in conjunction with evidence-based medical uses to help co-occurring disorders.
Three particular forms of Meditation are critically reviewed in this research article: Transcendental Meditation, Buddhist Meditation, and Mindfulness-based Meditation. This article pays particular attention to the many benefits of using Meditation to help treat substance use disorders: “The medical benefits of meditation include improving hypertension, managing the stress of chronic illness, and promoting cardiovascular health. Long –term meditation may have a role, too, in slowing and perhaps stopping cortical atrophy and cognitive decline”.
This impressive research article highlights the need for more research on “determining what particular meditation exercises — concentrative, diffuse, and philosophical – would be most effective in those with substance use disorders”.
At AToN Center, we use evidence based research in our holistic and treatment modalities. Our residents and AToN graduates are highly encouraged to use healthy coping skills without the use of contraindicated medications. The benefits of Meditation and Mindfulness as they are infused in MBSR, DBT, and MBCT offer powerful – drug free—coping skills for those in recovery.
Chris McDuffie, MA, CADC-II
Chemical Dependency Counselor
AToN Center 888-535-1516
